Laundry Procedures Basic steps of the laundry operation: 1.

Collecting soiled linens The room attendant should note heavily stained linen when they remove them from the guest room and keep them separate, so it will be noticed in the laundry for spotting/stain removal (and so it does not get washed with the other linens). F or example, a way to mark linens needing special treatment is to store them insi de a pillowcase. 2. Transporting soiled linens to the laundry Keep the linens off the floors and away from the cart wheels. Soiled damp linen s should be washed promptly and not allowed to sit in carts or chutes for long p eriods (mold and mildew could grow). 3. Sorting Wear gloves when handling soiled linen. All linens should be opened up fully to look for stains and to shake out any loose items/soils wrapped up in the linen. Sort linens by load type and by degree of soiling. 4. Washer Loading If you have a scale in the laundry (this is preferred), weigh out each load to w ithin 90 to 100% of the reco load. Do not overfill a machine or the quality of wash will su ffer. Underfilled loads waste money and time. 5. To replace an empty chemical bucket Wear protective gloves and glasses. Unscrew the proportioning cap connected to tubing on the empty bucket and set cap somewhere it will remain clean. Move emp ty bucket away from position. Set the new bucket in place with the shipping cap secured. Loosen and remove the shipping cap with the cap wrench. Screw the pro portioning cap (with the tube) to the bucket and tighten. Make sure the right p roportioning cap is connected to the right bucket by matching colors. Screw the shipping cap from the new bucket onto the opening of the empty bucket. Dispose of the empty bucket in the dumpster. 5. Washing Select the appropriate washing machine program for the type of load in the washe r and also select the appropriate dispenser program number. Stagger the startin g times of the washers at least 2 to 5 minutes. 6. Extracting Linens should be only slightly damp after the wash cycle is completed. If there is water dripping from the linens, contact your machine supplier to check the e xtraction time. 7. Drying Lint filters should be cleaned at least once per day or as specified by the manu facturer. Dry linens as soon as the washer is finished. Do not mix load types i n the dryer. Do not overdry linens, use a cool down tumbling period to minimize wrinkles. Do not le ave linens in the dryer overnight. 8. Finishing/ironing Only feed linens at the proper moisture level through flatwork ironers. Keep th e ironer clean and do not iron dirty linens. 9. Folding Linens should be folded immediately after drying or ironing to minimize wrinkles

. The person doing the folding should look for stains, excessive wear or tears and sort out these linens for additional treatment. Do not send an unacceptable pie ce of linen to a room hoping the guest will not notice it. 10. Storing Let the linens rest for a day before using. This will increase linen life and de crease wrinkles. 11. Transferring linens to use area. Keep the clean and folded linens off the floor. Do not jam a stack of linens in to the room attendant carts or onto shelves (may tear or wrinkle them). 12. Miscellaneous Inventory try to keep 2 to 3 par of linens on hand. Having to strip rooms to coll ect soiled linens to begin washing is a waste of labor and prevents the linens f rom resting. Take inventory every couple months and replace linens as needed to maintain par. Use spring loaded cart inserts to keep the linens within reach of the workers. Keep the inserts and the carts cleaned regularly (especially the bottoms). If p ossible, have carts designated for dirty linens and separate carts for clean lin en. Keep an adequate supply of rags in the laundry and on the room attendant carts, so workers will not be tempted to use good linens where they may be ruined. Cle aning rags should always be sorted from guest linens and washed separately. Keep the floor of the laundry swept to discourage ants from being attracted to p ieces of food dropped from the linens during sorting. Think about ways to minimize how many times a piece of linen is handled.